If there was an American Music Hall of Fame, the Detroit-born group The Supremes would be in it, hailed as the Queens of Motown. As it is, the group is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1988.
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The Supremes are the top of the top, the cream of the crop. But how did they get their apt name? And what other failed band names came before? Let’s dive into the band’s history below.
The Primettes
The story of the Supremes begins with a few high school friends in the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects in Detroit. It’s 1958 and a junior in high school, Florence Ballard, met two other up-and-coming Detroit singers, Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks. At the time, those two were in the local singing group, the Primes—a band that would later become the Temptations.
Milton Jenkins, manager of the Primes, learned Ballard sang and so did Williams’ girlfriend, Betty McGlown. So Jenkins’ wheels began to turn and he decided to form a “sister group” for the Primes, known as the Primettes. Singers Mary Wilson and Diana Ross (more on her later) were also recruited to join the group and, thus, the Primettes were formed.
They sang around town, often doing Ray Charles and the Drifters covers, sharing the role of lead singer equitably. To stand out from the crowd, the gals hired guitarist Marvin Tarplin so that they could sing to live music.
Smokey Robinson
The now-iconic songwriter and performer was just a young guy making his way at the turn of 1960. This was when the Primettes were looking to cut their first record, having just won the prestigious Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival competition.
Ross asked an old neighbor—Smokey—to help the gals land an audition for Motown head honcho, Berry Gordy. Robinson agreed, on one condition: he could hire away Tarplin to play guitar for him. A deal was struck and Gordy found out about “the girls,” as Robinson called them. But Gordy wanted them to wait, at least to get out of high school.
The Supremes
Not taking no for an answer, the Primettes hung around Gordy’s Hitsville U.S.A. studios, begging to cut songs or even to just do backing vocals and hand-claps on other artists’ songs. In 1961, Gordy signed the group but said they needed a new name.
Gordy gave Ballard options like “the Darleens,” “the Sweet Ps,” “the Melodees,” “the Royaltones” and even “the Jewelettes.” Ballard struck all those down and instead suggested the Supremes. Ding, ding ding!
Persistence Pays Off
From then on, until Ross went solo in 1970, the Supremes were one of the most successful groups in music, including becoming the most successful Motown group. The Supremes garnered 12 No. 1 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100, largely thanks to the ladies’ partnership with the songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Today, they remain icons—especially Ross, known as one of the queens of disco during her solo career.
Photo of Supremes Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
